Mob Mentality

Leo Frank (1884 – 1915) was an American who became the only known Jew in history to be lynched on American soil. The manager of a pencil factory in Atlanta, Georgia, Frank was convicted in the rape and murder of a pencil-factory worker, 13-year-old Mary Phagan. The case is widely regarded as having been a miscarriage of justice . It was the focus of many conflicting cultural pressures, and the jury's conclusion represented in part, class and regional resentment of educated Northern industrialists who were perceived to be wielding too much power in the South, threatening southern culture and morality. The trial was sensationalized by the media. The Georgia politician and publisher Tom Watson used the case to build personal political power and support for a revival of the Ku Klux Klan.

Shortly after Frank's conviction, new evidence emerged that cast doubt on his guilt. After the governor commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment, Frank was kidnapped from prison and lynched by a group of prominent citizens who called themselves the "Knights of Mary Phagan". The group is reported to have included the son of a senator, a former governor, lawyers, and a prosecutor. - From Wikipedia

It seems that, judging by a variety of websites, that there is still some doubt as to whether or not Leo Frank murdered Mary Phagan.  Regardless, it was made into a musical starring Matthew Broderick about a decade ago. I was asked to do a couple of portraits of Mr. Frank.  The posters came out rather well, but in the end the Broadway work was done by that master watercolourist, James McMullan.  Too bad; I'd have loved to have seen my Ben Shahn inspired posters on Broadway.  What a kick that would have been.  Ah well, maybe next time.